Polar Covalent Bonds

How does the difference in electronegativity of the two atoms in a bond affect the polarity of the bond?

Electronegativity in two atoms in a bond affects the polarity because the larger the electronegativity difference is, it could cause unequal sharing which would then cause an extremely polar bond. The element with the higher electronegativity would be partial negative.

How can you determine which element will have a partial negative charge and which will have a partial positive charge in a polar bond?

Electronegativity is what determines whether an element will be partially negative or positive. The higher the electronegativity, the more electrons that can be pulled in, resulting in a more negative charge. This will cause a dipole, and the other end would have to be more positive to make the polar bond.

What can influence polarity?

Shape and Bond Polarity

Equal Sharing

Some covalent bonds involve atoms that have roughly similar electronegativities and they share their electrons equally

Polar Covalent

The electron cloud will be more dense around the atom with the higher electronegativity

Why is it important to take both the polarity of the bonds and the shape of the molecule into consideration when determining the polarity of the molecule?

The larger the difference is in their electronegativities, the stronger the polarity is. The shape would also come into consideration when determining the polarity of molecules because if the shape is so that the pulling and pairing can be equally distributed like in a straight line, it most likely would not be polar. If it was not geometric and formed almost like a triangle shape, it would probably be more polar.

Non-Polar Covalent

Non-polar molecules have an equal distribution of electron cloud around all atoms

Unequal Sharing

If one atom's electronegativity is big enough to "hog" electrons but not strong enough to steal

Describe the relationship between the electron density distribution and the bond character?

If the electrons were shared equally, it would cause a nonpolar covalent bond where there is an equal distribution of the electron cloud around the atoms. If the electrons were not shared equally, it would cause unequal sharing where the one's electronegativity is bigger than the other and would "hog" the electrons without stealing, creating a polar covalent bond. It would be more ionic with the unequal distribution.